There’s no excuse for staying dry at the Gold Coast. Whether you like swimming in the ocean, in pools or under waterfalls, there are plenty of options for all swimmers. Check out all the best places to swim when at the Gold Coast here.
Gold Coast Ocean Swimming
Some swimmers can just look at a beach, assess the conditions, decide exactly where to swim and then plunge through the surf to swim cheerfully alone. I am not one of them.
So when I visit a new place, I am keen to swim in a shoal of swimmers, or at least not alone. Luckily ocean swimmers are friendly and none more so than Stephen Cornelius, the brains behind the Gold Coast Open Water Swimming Club
The GCOWSC meets most days at Kurrawa Surf Club at Broadbeach on Saturdays at 8am and at various times on weekdays. Check the GCOWS Facebook page here for current times.
I turned up one Monday, found that parking was easy, introduced myself to Stephen Cornelius and swam with him. For me, getting out through the surf was hectic but manageable and then the swim south was just sublime. Big thanks to Stephen for slowing down so that I could keep up with him.
This group looks at the sea conditions and then decides whether to swim north or south, depending on the sweep of the ocean current. They might walk one way and then swim back, or start where they meet and walk back along the beach after the swim. They stop to regroup every 500m and swim between 1.5km to 3km. Swimmers can go in to the beach earlier if they prefer.
Check out these fine ocean swimmers on Facebook at the GCOWS page here and join the GCOWS Facebook group here.
If you are visiting the Gold Coast and looking for other ocean swimmers, the GCOWSC are a friendly and supportive group.
There is also the group called the Burleigh Ocean Social Swimmers which meets every Sunday morning, read more on their Facebook group here.
Find Gold Coast ocean swim races on the Oceanswims website here, or on Oceanfit here.
Gold Coast Aquatic Centre
Set within the extensive Broadwater parklands, right alongside the huge expanse of Broadwater itself, the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre is a hub for Gold Coast swimmers and the training facility for many well-known athletes. And I had a swim too. I was staying very close by at Southport so it was just a five minute drive away. It would be a 10-15 minute drive from Surfers Paradise in light traffic.
At GCAC you will find:
- a 10-lane, 50m heated outdoor competition pool
- an 8-lane, 50m outdoor training pool
- a 7-lane, 25m outdoor program pool
- an outdoor dive pool, with diving boards at 1m, 3m, 5m, 7,5m and 10m.
- an indoor 10m by 15m learn to swim pool
- an indoors children’s splash and leisure pool
- a 300 square metre indoor dry dive facility
- hot and cold hydrotherapy pools
Do check the website as some pools do close for compeititions.
Address: Marine Parade, Southport
Phone: 07 5582 8282
Gold Coast Aquatic centre website
Gold Coast Beaches
Ah, where to start? You can find any sort of beach you like at the Gold Coast. The photo above is of Rainbow Bay which is at Coolangatta in the extreme south. This is a magical little beach, with a bit of surf and plenty of surfers when I visited. You could joyfully swim laps of the beach, or just guddle about happily.
Up in the north the long sandy beach running from Main Beach to Burleigh Heads has life guards and flags every 500 metres where you can swim, splash, body surf and boogie board.
The beach at Burleigh Heads is also divine, and there are several surf beaches south of there which are good for swimming too.
And then there are two sheltered creek areas with no surf where you could get in some good swims.
Gold Coast Swimming Lagoons
There are several swimming enclosures on inland waters around the Gold Coast. I only saw the one at Southport myself however found this article which lists them all. Have you been to any? I will investigate these more on my next visit.
Read about the Gold Coast Swimming Lagoons here.
Gold Coast Waterfalls
The Gold Coast Hinterland is famous for its waterfalls, some of which are good for swimming. Sadly I have not visited any myself yet but the Hinterland is definitely on my get-there-soon list.
In the meantime, check out this article from Destination Gold Coast: Five Gold Coast Hinterland Waterfalls
You might also like to look at: Top Seven Gold Coast Waterfalls
In the southern area of the Gold Coast, not too far from the ocean, you can drive inland to swim at Currumbin Rocks Pool and Cougal Cascades.
Gold Coast Snorkelling: Turtles at Cook Island
I am telling you, snorkelling counts as swimming. One of the highlights of my Gold Coast foray was joining these ancient and magnificent creatures at Cook Island, just south of the New South Wales border. I was taken out by Watersports Guru, with the lovely guide Keri Algar. The boat trip is only about 20-30 minutes. We saw green turtles and hawksbill tutrtles and had plenty of time to stay in the water with them.
I would not recommend this trip very new snorkellers, however for the experienced it is just divine.
Watersports Guru
Watersports Guru website is here.
Address: 10 Lighthouse Parade Fingal Head NSW 2487 Tel:
Phone: 0430 082 890
Can you share any other favourite Gold Coast swimming spots with readers?
Would love to hear of more good swimming spots up there in Queenland.